and care he has manifested towards his church and people, both in the ordinances of his grace and the dispensations of his Providence. "Through the tender mercy of our God, the day-spring from on high hath visited us."

4. Peculiar obligation to praise God for his mercy. Israel, the professed people of God, standing in covenant relation to him, and the special object of his choice, love and care, are here called on to celebrate divine mercy. As the ancient Israel were under peculiar obligations to praise God's mercy, which was displayed in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage-preservation and support in the wilderness, entrance into Canaan, and peaceful possession and enjoyment of the promised land, with all the mercies which attended their lot, more particularly enumerated in Psalm cxxxvi: So the spiritual Israel of God, his peculiar people and treasure, are under special obligations to praise the eternal mercy of God, for this life, with its innumerable mercies and benefits which they possess and enjoy on earth, and for the promise and prospect of the eternal life of glory in heaven.

5. Eminent seasons for praising divine mercy. As it is continually exercised towards us, it ought always to be praised. But sometimes it is more evident in its blessed effectsand then we are more loudly called to celebrate it. How loudly did Moses and the children of Israel celebrate the praises of divine mercy at the Red Sea, when God delivered them from Egyptian bondage and the wrath of its cruel kings! The call in the text seems to be given to Israel when they were brought to a happy condition, having obtained many signal victories over their enemies, and had the good prospect of a peaceable and comfortable possession and enjoyment of the promised land. And the New Testament Church has experienced remarkable seasons of grace and mercy, deserving and demanding the liveliest glow of gratitude and praise; such as the extensive spread of the gospel among the Gentiles nations, and the renewal of divine truth and godliness at the Reformation-and every true believer has visits of divine grace and mercy at particular times, which will loudly call upon his soul, and all that is within him, to bless the Lord.

6. Special faith in God's everlasting mercy. When called to make this declaration, we are called at the same time upon the authority of God, to believe it, with particular application to ourselves. We can not properly comply with this call or injunction, till we can say in faith, without which it is impossible to please God," "that his mercy endureth forever."

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We are therefore, when making this declaration, to look for the blessed experience of divine mercy. In the appropriation and assurance of faith say, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and my dwelling place shall be in the house of the Lord forever."

CONCLUSION.

1. Trust and hope in God's mercy which endureth forever. Mercy is the hope and refuge of a miserable sinner. The gospel is revealed for the express purpose that he may cast himself upon God's mercy, and hope in it continually for eternal life and salvation. Christ is the mercy of mercies, and all special saving mercy flows from his merits and mediation to poor perishing sinners. In him we are to "look for the mercy of the Lord unto eternal life." (Jude 21.) Israel and Aaron, and all that fear the Lord, are called upon to trust in the Lord, as their help and their shield. (Ps. cxv. 9-11. Here the very same persons are called upon to confess that the Lord's mercy endureth forever. None can praise God but those who trust and hope in his mercy. The Psalmist says, "I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever." that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about." "Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him there is plenteous redemption; and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities."

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2. Be glad and rejoice in the plenitude and perpetuity of God's mercy. Why is mercy shewn to the miserable but to make them happy, yea, joyful? Divine grace can gladden the most sorrowful heart, and make it sing "with joy unspeakable and full of glory." In trouble we imagine we get relief by complaining; but we get joy and gladness in praising God's mercy. Let our complaints be turned into praises, and draw all our comfort and consolation from the mercy of God in Christ. We must sing a praising song for God's glory, and a pleasant song for our own solace and delight. To rejoice always in the Lord is the believer's duty, privilege and delight. It may be difficult to reconcile dark and distressing dispensations of God's providence, but we must still believe that his mercy is everlasting, and his truth and faithfulness inviolable. It is matter of joy and praise that he will make all things, although apparently against us, to "work together for good to them that love God, and are the called according to his purpose." If it is a day of darkness and distress, we are to "sing of mercy and judgment." But whatever be our circumstances, we are never so earnestly and frequently called upon in scrip

ture to believe and repent, as to sing praise and give thanks; for it is the will of God that we should be most frequently and devoutly engaged in the most pleasant exercises of religion, which will be the eternal employment of the redeemed in heaven. David says, "I will glorify thee, O Lord, my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name with all my heart; and I will glorify thy name for evermore." "For great is thy mercy toward me; and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell." "I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me." "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name-who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies."

3. Praise God's mercy continually. Through Christ "let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name." This was the Psalmist's noble resolution when he said, "I will bless the Lord continually, his praise shall be continually in my mouth." "I will sing of the mercies of the lord forever. For I have said mercy shall be built up forever." We may be ever singing the praises of God's mercy, and yet the subject will never be exhausted. O what a delightful exercise! What a blessed employment! The song of the Lamb will never cloy upon the lips of the Redeemed. With unwearied vigor, and with everlasting delight, will they praise the rich mercy of God. This will be the burden of their song, and the sum and substance of their hosanna and hallelujah, "That his mercy endureth forever."

We exhort you, O believer, to get your heart tuned to that song of praise which shall be sung with extatic joy in heaven forever. Neglect not the praise of God's mercy in the dark day of adversity. Be not like the rebellious Israelites, who "remembered not the multitude of his mercies," while they were miraculously preserved by him in the wilderness. Maintain upon your heart a grateful remembrance of the Lord's loving-kindness and tender mercies to you, and the Israel of God. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Let not your frailty and afflictions infringe upon your spiritual joy and prosperity. Death itself will be no abridgment of your bliss. Let not your heart be disquieted with your mortality, the shortness of life, and the frailty and troubles that attend it; for God's mercy to your immortal soul "endureth forever." "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow

to anger and plenteous in mercy.-As a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him: For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth; for the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more: But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep his covenant, and to those who remember his commandments to do them." In faith and hope say with the Psalmist, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

O sinner-by faith seek a saving interest in the special mercy of God. Beware of trusting to the common goodness or general mercy of God, which you, like multitudes of others, may experience and yet perish forever. The rich man rioted in the good things of this life, but he died, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in eternal torments. If you have no interest in the special mercy of the Lord, nothing awaits you but weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth forever. Look by faith to God in Christ, who is the glorious channel of God's everlasting mercy to miserable sinners. He is gracious, merciful and propitious to sinners, only in the infinite merits of the sacrifice of his eternal Son. Through his shed blood, grace and mercy flow to us as miserable sinners. Cry mightily to the "Father of mercies," that he would have mercy upon your immortal soul. Pray with the poor penitent publican, "Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner." Look by faith for the mercy of the Lord unto eternal life, through the merits of Christ's righteousness. Wait upon the Lord, who waits to be gracious, and is exalted that he may have mercy upon you. Amen.

SERMON,

BY THE REV. DAVID GOODWILLIE.

"The mystery which hath been hid from ages, and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints." (Col. i. 26.)

Every part of supernatural revelation is characteristic of its Divine Author. In nothing is it inferior to what might reasonably be expected, in the circumstances in which it was made. The change of man's condition from a happy state of innocence and integrity, in which he was made by God, to a wretched state of guilt and woe, must necessarily be attended with the most dreadful consequences. A proper appre hension of the sin and misery of this state, induced by the fall, must be alarming beyond expression. But to hear of a holy and happy change, which more than counterbalances our loss by the fall, is truly wonderful and astonishing, both in its nature and manner of revelation. It is, as the Apostle styles it, a "mystery," which, though in a great measure it was hid from ages and generations, is now made manifest to the saints under a clearer dispensation of divine grace.

Through divine assistance we shall consider,

1. The gospel as a "mystery," in its origin, nature, design and effects;

II. That it preserves the nature of a mystery in every period and degree of its revelation.

I. We are to consider the gospel as a "mystery."

By a mystery, in scripture, is understood something of importance, which remains secret or unknown, in a great measure, or for some time. That is a mystery which in some respects lies hid or concealed from the common observation of mankind, so that they can have only dark and imperfect views of it, whether this darkness and imperfection arise from the nature of the thing itself, or from some obscurity in the